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(No Model.)

0. W. KING.

BOOT 0R SHOE. No. 386,833. Patented July 31, 1888.

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NITED STATES ATENT Fries.

CHARLES \V. KING, OF VEST NE\VTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES A. KING, OF NEW' YORK, N. Y.

BOOT OR SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,833, dated July 31, 1888.

Application filed November 14, 1887. Serial No. 255.030. (No mo .el.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES \V. KING, of \Vest Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boots or Shoes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 isabottom view ofashoe-sole, showing the position of the tacks or nails as at present employed for securing the outsole to the upper and insole preparatory to permanently securing the outsole in position by a line of stitches or otherwise. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of one side of a lasted shoe, showing the outsole tacked in position prior to permanently securing it. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing my improvement. Fig. 4 shows several forms of my improved fastening detached.

As is well known to those skilled in the art of shoe-making, the outsole of the boot or shoe is temporarily secured in position on the insole after the shoe has been lasted in order that it may be permanently secured by the subse quent operation of sewing or thelike. To thus temporarily secure the outsole in position, tacks or nails or short sections of wire are driven through the outsole, upper, and insole at three or four points around the edge of the outsole, said nails beingdriven in the channel at the edge of the outsole, in order to prevent the other portions of the sole from being dainaged by a puncture or hole, which would show when the shoe was finished. These nails are consequently often in the path of the needle when the shoe is being sewed, and are liable to break the needle, besides causing delays and inconvenience to the operator and subsequent discomfort to the wearer.

The object of my invention is to obviate these difficulties; and it consists in a boot or shoe the outsole andinsole of which are secured together with what I have termed an interme diate fastener, composed of a middle portion or intermediate plate or base having oppositely-projeeting prongs, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

A represents the last; B the upper, Gthe insole, and D the outsole, of a boot or shoe. The

outsole is shown with a channel around the edge, in which the stitches or fastenings are laid which secure it in place.

a a represent the nails or tacks or portions of wire which are now commonly used for se curing the outsole temporarily on the lasted shoe. These are generally not drawn, but are left in place and are covered up by the channel-flap b when it is pasted or cemented down in finishing the shoe. When the shoe is worn, they are apt to loosen and to be forced upwardly in the operation of walking, and thus injure the foot orsock of the wearer. To avoid the use of these nails, and at the same time sccure the outsole firmlyin position, I have produced a fastening (see Fig. 4) consisting of a middle portion or plate, 0, provided with oppositely-projecting pointed prongs (I, set on eitherside thereof. The exactsize of the plate 0 and prongs or projections d is obviously unessential so long as they are not long enough to extend completely through the sole, and the projection or prong on one side of the plate is usually preferably of a different size from the prong on the opposite side to suit the different thickness of the insole and outsole. The pro jections (I may be set at a slight angle to the plate 0, or with one side slightly rounding from the point to the base and the other side flat, as shown atf, Fig. 4. XVhen they are set in this position or are of this shape, they tend to bend and clinch or grip the material of the sole, and so hold the parts more securely.

My fastener is applied as follows: The side of the outsole which is to lie next the insoleis laid uppermost on a bench or block and the desired numberof fasteners is driven into itat the points desired, (usually at the toe and heel and either side of the ball,) but inside theline of the channel, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the path around the channel will be clear and present no obstructions to the needle in stitching the outsole. After the fasteners are applied to the sole, one of the prongs (I will be embed (led in the sole, the plate 0 will lie 011 the surface of the sole or be slightly embedded in the surface by the blow of the hammer, while the other projection will stand up from the plate 0 clear of the surface of the sole. With fasteners thus applied the outsole is ready to be laid on the lasted shoe with the fasteners next the insole. \Vhen the outsole is in the right position, a tap of the hammer over each fastener embeds the free prong of the fastener in the insole and forces the outsole and insole closely together, Where they are firmly held, the fasteners being wholly concealed from view. In this position, with the plate 0 between the soles, the prongs d are prevented from Working through either sole when the shoe is being worn.

Although the prongs of the fastener may be in line with each other on either side of the plate 0, as shown at is, Fig. 4, I prefer to offset them on the plate, one being at either end thereof, as such a construction causes the prongs to bind when any force tends to displace the sole laterally, thus securing the sole more firmly in position.

I have spoken of thefasteners being set by a hammer. They may, however, be set by a machine specially constructed for the purpose.

What I claim islhe combination, in a boot or shoe, with the CHARLES W. KING.

Witnesses:

ROBERT WALLACE, WM. A. MAOLEOD. 

